ilms

It's true that a lot of establishments in Ao Nang are closed (some perhaps permanently) but there are still many places that are open-especially if you have a car and can look around on your own. You should have no trouble finding a variety of food and drink.

Krabi town has seemed fairly normal lately, especially if you go to places where locals go. 

In any case, come on down, I'm sure that many places would love to have your business.

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I did a border crossing there several years ago (just exiting Thailand and immediately coming back in). I drove myself there. I got there a little before 6pm and was struck by the fact that as far as I could see, there was no one else there except for me and the IO's. Maybe transport further into Malaysia could somehow be arranged, but I wouldn't depend on that without checking to be sure first.

I was able to do my 90-day report last month in a province that is not the one where I do my extensions.

While on our trip, we called our "home" IO and they said that we could do the report at any immigration office in the country. We tried at the IO in 4 different provinces (Tak, Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Chiang Rai). All said they would do the report but that the hotels we were staying in had to report me as a guest first. Apparently none of them had, so I couldn't do the report. I even asked some hotels if they would file the TM 30 with immigration and a couple of them flat-out refused-they said they didn't want to deal with those things. 

FInally had some success in Kanchanaburi Province and was able to do the report.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if the law says you can't do this. I guess like so often, it depends on the office, the person, the day, etc.

I used a fixed deposit account on my last extension (17-month term) and it was accepted by immigration. Just make sure it is an account with features that Ubon Joe described in his post.

Hugo with a song that is part of a campaign to stop human trafficking.

I don't know what the law says, but I would definitely want my current extension stamp in the valid (new) passport. When I renewed my passport last year, I took the new and old one to immigration and they put in the stamp of my current extension of stay (the expiration date remains the same) in the new one along with another stamp explaining that they were transferring the extension stamp to my new passport. I had a letter from my embassy but they didn't ask to see it. They didn't charge for it either, but I'm sure if I had given them a tip, they wouldn't have refused.

I would definitely keep the old passport with me as it has your original visa in it.

If the new passport number is different from the old one (which seems to be the case in most countries), you should consider updating your passport info. in other places as well. In my case that was:

-banks where I have accounts

-Ministry of Land Transport for my Thai driver's license

-Ministry of Labor (work permit)

You mentioned visiting your wife's family. Is she Thai and are you still legally married? I set up an account at Thanachart Bank several months again. As my work permit was about to expire I asked what other options I had. They said I could set up an account with me as the sole account holder if I submitted my marriage cert., and my wife's ID. There was no "insurance" or anything like that. They were quite nice about it too. Maybe it helped that I had my son, who's a toddler, with me. Little kids can open doors here. Anyway, if you have the necessary docs. maybe you can suggest this route to them if they start giving you that, "We don't want to deal with you look". Whatever gets it done around here, right? 

I renewed by mail last year. I sent my soon-to-expire passport, application form, bank drafts, etc. by Thai Post EMS (45TB). 12 days later, I received the new passport along with the old one in the mail. That's a lot quicker than doing it in the US (unless you pay extra for expedited service).

To be on the safe side, I would make photocopies of all the relevant pages of the passport (information page, Thai visa, extension stamps, etc.)  and take out all the Thai immigration papers that may be stapled in there, before putting in the mail. 

If what you mean by "early" is if the marriage extension stamp can be placed in the new passport before the extension expires, the answer is yes. The expiration date of the extension will be the same as in the old passport. In my case they also stamped in a fairly lengthy bit explaining that I was transferring the extension to the new passport. I had a letter from my Consulate stating that they had issued me a new passport, but the IO didn't look at it. I've also heard that some IO's will charge for transferring the stamp. Mine didn't ask for anything. Good luck.

Last year I got a new passport and had my extension transferred into it. It took about 20 minutes at the immigration office. They didn't ask me for any money and it didn't seem like a big deal.  I'm have to work with a smaller office in the south, so the waiting and travel time are probably not like at CW in BKK.

They will take up at least a full page stamping/writing in an explanation of the change. The last time I left the country I carried the old passport with me just in case, as it has my original visa in it.  They did not ask to see it when I was clearing immigration at Suvarnabhumi.

Report due on Aug. 20th and leaving Thailand on Aug. 27. Unless going to do the 90-day report is very onerous for you (which it might well be if you have to go to CW), I would do it to be on the safe side.  If you plan to continue living in Thailand, don't give them any reason to mess with you. 

Are you and your Thai partner married by any chance? I recently opened a certificate of deposit account at Thannachart Bank. I no longer have a work permit but they said a copy of my wife's ID (she's Thai) and our marriage certificate would be enough for them to let me open the account. They were quite cheery about it to. 

For the record, it pays 1.8% interest, 1 yr term--crap by any reasonable investment standards but the rules say the money's gotta be in a bank here.